Just what protection do the SME Bank suspects enjoy that no criminal charges have been brought against them despite evidence pointing to systematic looting?
From the outset, the Namibian government ignored warnings against setting up the SME Bank with Enoch Kamushinda, who had a dubious history of vanishing with bank depositors’ funds in Zimbabwe.
Then, for about three years, the Bank of Namibia allowed the SME Bank to get away with flouting basic rules such as submitting audited financials for taking some action in 2017 well after about N$250 million of depositor funds had vanished.
Now it has taken the Supreme Court to order that criminal files and charges be referred to the prosecutor general.
How can we root out the theft of public money and corruption if law enforcement measures are not instantly acted on where the trail of evidence is laid out? All eyes are now on the prosecutor general and police to enforce the top court’s decision.
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